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« What is HBO's cut?
This is a sub-selection from Not News

AnonFTW
@reliablehosting.com

AnonFTW to pnh102

Anon

to pnh102

Re: Not News

said by pnh102:

Did HBO officially say they were doing this? Unless they did all this is is gossip and wishful thinking.

Right, because what could the CEO of Netflix possibly know about his industry?

HBO already offers a streaming service, all they have to do is drop the requirement of a cable/satellite subscription and move to their own authentication system.

What will likely force their hand? Game of Thrones. Game of Thrones Season 1 (alone) cost $50 million to produce, Season 2 cost about $60 million, Season 3 is approaching $100 million, all while cable subscriptions are going down. Yet, all seasons of the show set records for the most pirated TV show, ever. HBO, even at the risk of angering their cable and satellite bedfellows, can't ignore the potential revenue stream staring them in the face. If Netflix can charge $9 a month for unlimited streaming, loads of people would pay that for several months of HBO and who knows, might even get hooked on first run movies and HBO's other shows.

The bigger picture here is that we're all going to get what we want, a sort of a la carte choice - albeit in streaming format - and HBO realizes it's inevitable. However, as a cord cutter, I can easily see the average household spending more money buying individual subscription services, purchasing season passes to shows, and renting individual movies piecemeal as the services become available.

pnh102
Reptiles Are Cuddly And Pretty
Premium Member
join:2002-05-02
Mount Airy, MD

pnh102

Premium Member

said by AnonFTW :

Right, because what could the CEO of Netflix possibly know about his industry?

Quixster.
said by AnonFTW :

What will likely force their hand? Game of Thrones. Game of Thrones Season 1 (alone) cost $50 million to produce, Season 2 cost about $60 million, Season 3 is approaching $100 million, all while cable subscriptions are going down. Yet, all seasons of the show set records for the most pirated TV show, ever. HBO, even at the risk of angering their cable and satellite bedfellows, can't ignore the potential revenue stream staring them in the face. If Netflix can charge $9 a month for unlimited streaming, loads of people would pay that for several months of HBO and who knows, might even get hooked on first run movies and HBO's other shows.

You are correct in your numbers but your conclusion is improbably optimistic. $9 a month for streaming gets you a lot of sub-par or dated entertainment. Now for someone like me who places very little value on content, I don't mind. But for normal people, this isn't the best of options.

I also am a cord-cutter. But the fact remains that compared to the number of people who pay for TV (about 100 million subscribers total), our numbers are small (about 125k the last I read here). Compared to the numbers of subscribers HBO gets through cable/satellite/telco TV providers, we don't even resonate in the margin of error. For HBO to develop and provide a standalone solution for people like us won't make much sense for them financially, especially if they antagonize their content delivery partners.

Also consider who we are... we, as cord-cutters, are people who specifically do NOT want to pay a lot of money for entertainment. HBO is a premium product. For there to be any appeal, they would have to offer what amounts to a value package that isn't too expensive ($15 a month tops). I don't see them doing that.
said by AnonFTW :

The bigger picture here is that we're all going to get what we want, a sort of a la carte choice - albeit in streaming format - and HBO realizes it's inevitable.

I don't agree. Maybe when 125k becomes 1 million, or 5 million, I might change my mind.

ITALIAN926
join:2003-08-16

ITALIAN926 to AnonFTW

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to AnonFTW
People are funny. Insinuating things like "Pirating will decrease if HBO offers a streaming option". THIEVES will continue to STEAL Game of Thrones whether theres an HBO $15 streaming option or not.

There are reasons for HBO to possibly switch to a streaming option, THIEVES have nothing to do with it.

Corehhi
join:2002-01-28
Bluffton, SC

Corehhi to AnonFTW

Member

to AnonFTW
I would buy HBO streaming for a cheap price no doubt. I'm a cord cutter and I would love to add HBO to my streaming options. In fact that is really all I want to do, I would pay $30-40 a month for cable if I could simply pick and choose what channels I wanted.
Skippy25
join:2000-09-13
Hazelwood, MO

Skippy25 to ITALIAN926

Member

to ITALIAN926
Not true. I personally am not into that show, but if I was I would not pay any provider $20 a month for HBO just to get one show.

However, I would pay about $20 for a full season of a show I enjoy.

pnh102
Reptiles Are Cuddly And Pretty
Premium Member
join:2002-05-02
Mount Airy, MD

1 recommendation

pnh102

Premium Member

said by Skippy25:

Not true. I personally am not into that show, but if I was I would not pay any provider $20 a month for HBO just to get one show.

However, I would pay about $20 for a full season of a show I enjoy.

Sure it is true. If you currently pay $0 for content by pirating it, why would you pay anything more to watch it instead?

Eagles1221
join:2009-04-29
Vincentown, NJ

Eagles1221

Member

Convenience. I'd pay a buck an episode for commercial free NCIS and Downtown Abbey.

Corehhi
join:2002-01-28
Bluffton, SC

Corehhi

Member

said by Eagles1221:

Convenience. I'd pay a buck an episode for commercial free NCIS and Downtown Abbey.

That's too much.
Corehhi

Corehhi to pnh102

Member

to pnh102
said by pnh102:

said by Skippy25:

Not true. I personally am not into that show, but if I was I would not pay any provider $20 a month for HBO just to get one show.

However, I would pay about $20 for a full season of a show I enjoy.

Sure it is true. If you currently pay $0 for content by pirating it, why would you pay anything more to watch it instead?

Reason Itunes is successful, reasonable price to keep things legal. Price to high and who cares there are other ways to find media on line.
Skippy25
join:2000-09-13
Hazelwood, MO

Skippy25 to pnh102

Member

to pnh102
Your assumption is that all people pirate because they dont want to pay. Which is completely false.

Many people pirate because of the restrictions in either getting the material through silly release windows, how the get it (streamed/digital/etc) or because it is not priced at an amount they are willing to pay.

Will some asshats refuse to pay anything at all and steal everything? Sure, but proclaiming ALL pirates would not pay a thing is silly as well.

I personally know about 15-20 people that PAY for pirated material and they do this because 1) they get the latest shows/movies/music 2) They get it in the format they want and 3) they pay a price they think is fair and are willing to pay. All of those people would purchase straight from the source if they met their conditions but they dont so they get $0 from them.

DISCLAIMER: I personally do not participate in that nor allow it in my home, but it certainly proves your statement wrong.

aaronwt
Premium Member
join:2004-11-07
Woodbridge, VA
Asus RT-AX89

aaronwt to Eagles1221

Premium Member

to Eagles1221
said by Eagles1221:

Convenience. I'd pay a buck an episode for commercial free NCIS and Downtown Abbey.

It's usually 3x that for HD and 2x that for SD on VOD services.
Skippy25
join:2000-09-13
Hazelwood, MO

Skippy25

Member

They charge you at least a $1 more for HD, which is another silly thing. I am yet to hear an argument why that is, but if I did it probably would have nothing to do with technically needing to and everything to do with premium/quality of content.

Eagles1221
join:2009-04-29
Vincentown, NJ

Eagles1221 to Corehhi

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to Corehhi
It is what I feel it is worth. Itunes sells a season for 20$ IIRC. NCIS has 22 episodes per season
Eagles1221

Eagles1221 to aaronwt

Member

to aaronwt
And therein is the rub. I can watch free with laggy commericials at CBS.com. Or I can get them from Itunes for a season. Or I can torrent them. A buck per hour is what it is worth to me.
« What is HBO's cut?
This is a sub-selection from Not News